Auckland City Council - City Scene

This summer, people who want to check the state of the water before heading to their favourite swimming beach will be able to call a special information line.

The line is a joint initiative of Auckland City and North Shore City. It will be updated regularly to keep people informed about water quality at beaches throughout the two councils' areas from November to Easter.

Water samples are taken regularly for testing from around 20 bathing beaches in Auckland City's area, says project manager, Maurice Hoban. But he stresses that water testing will only provide an indication of bathing water conditions. Heavy rainfall is also an indicator of when not to swim, he says.

"As a rule people should avoid swimming for up to 24 hours after it has rained heavily."

As in previous years, signs will be erected to warn swimmers away from any beach when tests show its water quality has dropped to an unsafe level.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>